


To the Moon & Back

by HardStansOnly



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Astronauts, Background Relationships, Dance Teachers, Fluff and Humor, Love at First Sight, M/M, Soulmate AU, Soulmate marks, Warm and Fuzzy Feelings, questionable science but we're not here for that, video calls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:13:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26413966
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HardStansOnly/pseuds/HardStansOnly
Summary: Yugyeom is a dancer and has no intention of going out to find his soulmate. He doesn’t care really and all the programs to help are a gamble at best and dangerous at worst. Instead he focuses on his dance and on a whim signs up to be a ‘video pen pal’ with an astronaut on the International Space Station.Mark never wanted to leave space. There were things to discover and science to be done and earth was boring as shit compared to the vastness of the universe. At least until he gets on his first pen pal call and suddenly his year in space feels longer than it should.
Relationships: Kim Yugyeom/Mark Tuan
Comments: 14
Kudos: 66





	To the Moon & Back

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Raepocalypse](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raepocalypse/gifts).



> AN: happy bday Rae <3 - S

**Part I - Yugyeom**

Yugyeom believed in the soulmate system with the same amount of confidence he believed in The Bachelor contestants having actual feelings for each other. Being, less than zero.

Most of Yugyeom’s issues with the soulmate system was that it was fucking useless. All the ‘perfect’ system gave a person was their soulmate’s initials and a rush of feeling when the two met. No clear physical change, no one able to explain it other than You’ll Know When It Happens. Even his own brother had been unable to properly explain it, but at least Eiugyeom had made an honest attempt to describe it before they both got frustrated and gave it up. That left Yugyeom with **MYT** on his wrist and his romantic heart had repeatedly mistaken butterflies for The Feeling only to be disappointed until finally he had given up. Mostly.

Next was the agencies that helped people find their soulmate. The most expensive groups boasted a 47% success rate, but those were the groups that cost more than Yugyeom made in a year working two jobs. Those were the people who could afford to travel the world, or hire private investigators to dig through every person who had a variation of the initials on them - providing the people hired didn’t just leech the money off of the person. The more affordable groups had 20% success rate - give or take. Where the expensive groups had money leeches, the smaller groups had problems like stalking, assault and/or battery. Or Yugyeom’s personal nightmare, someone who had convinced themselves that the initials were wrong and tried to force him to be in a relationship.

Unwilling to even pretend he had an interest after the _5th_ PPO he had to file since he had turned 18, Yugyeom had become convinced that soulmates didn’t matter. If he was supposed to meet ‘MYT’ they would and he would just live his life until then. And if somehow he was dating, married, or otherwise unavailable if/when MYT appeared then it would be just too bad for his soulmate.

He would be too busy to worry about soulmates anyway. A dance studio had opened up by his apartment and a big **Teachers Wanted** sign was plastered on the front door in bold letters. His best friend had already been accepted for a teaching slot, and Bambam had been pushing Yugyeom for two weeks about applying.

_Bammie: I set up an interview for you_   
_Bammie: and before you get upset, Jinyoung has also been asking when you'd put an application in_   
_Yugyeom: he's never seen me dance???_   
_Yugyeom: …..you didn't_   
_Bammie: we were literally in a nationally televised competition, three times_   
_Yugyeom: you’re a traitor! i'm trading you in for a new best friend_   
_Bammie: shut up and be here in an hour_   
_Yugyeom: what if i was busy_   
_Bammie: if you're not currently standing in line for your 3rd ice choco of the day I'll eat my shoes_   
_Yugyeom: i don't have to answer that_   
_Bammie: thought so. you got an hour, i already have a change of clothes for you_

Scowling, Yugyeom thought about being late on purpose just to annoy Bam. However he was not looking to make an ass of himself to the owner before he could convince Jinyoung to hire him. If he got the job it opened a whole world of opportunity for him, most of which was that he wouldn’t have to work two jobs. Decent pay, getting to make a living off his favorite thing, and working with his best friend? It was too good to be true. Which meant that he spent most of the next hour wondering if the audition was actually for a prank show.

Still, Yugyeom trusted Bam’s judgement and if things fell on its face? It wouldn’t be the first time Yugyeom would have to pick himself up from the floor.

The audition, in Yugyeom's opinion, was a disaster. He stumbled twice, he missed a beat, Bam sighed in exasperation several times. And yet, Jinyoung and Jackson still signed him on to be a teacher. Part of him wanted to stomp his foot down, he didn’t want to get in just because Bambam had bought him a spot. The other part was again dreaming about not having to work two jobs to pay his bills. It would just mean that he could only go up from the first impression.

After the school closed for the night Yugyeom got talked into going out to a bar with the group as a celebration in preparation for the grand opening. Generally, Yugyeom felt more at home in a nightclub. The heavy beats, the strobe lights and everyone pressed ass to elbow dancing was his favorite place to be. The bar was at complete odds with a club. Loud but mostly chatter, only a few people dancing on the few squares of linoleum that served as the dance floor in front of an ancient jukebox that probably hadn’t worked since the 80s.

What the place lacked in dancing it made up in other forms of entertainment. A couple bar slot machines, digital poker, and their game of the night: billiards. At a table tucked in back from the live band the four were shooting pool. Their drinks sat cluttered on the small table next to baskets of cold fries and pretzel bites. 

Inevitably, the topic of soulmates came up.

“I gave up on finding mine.” Yugyeom bent low to line up a shot. “Six ball, left corner pocket.” Knocking the cue ball forward the six ball sank into the said pocket. “The only people I’ve run into have been creeps.”

“Who do I have to beat up Gyeomie?” Jackson wrapped an arm around his hip to pull their bodies together. “No one's gonna pick on my baby anymore.”

“Don’t you have a soulmate?” Bambam lined up his shot. “Ten ball, right-side center.” The shot missed. “In the US or something?”

“US _space station_.” Jackson blew a kiss at the ceiling. “Jaebum is a scientist on the space station. The international one was acting goofy so they went over to the US one.”

Yugyeom’s jaw dropped. Jackson’s soulmate was a fucking _astronaut_ in SPACE. His soulmate was cooler than a rockstar, a model and Lia Kim put together. Well, maybe not Lia Kim. Yugyeom was a dancer after all, and Lia Kim was a big inspiration for him. But he stood by the rest.

“You’ve starstruck Yugyeomie. Pun intended.” Bam slid behind Jinyoung trying to take a shot. “A little to the left.” Jinyoung went a little pink, pool stick hitting the green velvet. “Scratch.”

Yugyeom was a little jealous at how brazen Bambam was. His best friend saw what he wanted and went for it both feet in. Yugyeom guessed it was because Bambam had already met his soulmate and they hadn’t worked out. Mostly, because his soulmate was a girl and Bambam was in fact, very gay. Bambam and Lisa still held a close relationship, almost as close as Yugyeom and Bambam. Whenever Bambam needed his head kicked in and wouldn’t listen to Yugyeom try to reason, he went to Lisa and Lisa put him back on track.

Yugyeom could only wonder what that freedom was like. Even though he didn’t want to deal with the whole soulmate situation, Yugyeom couldn’t stop the ‘what if's' that popped up. There were nights where he would stare at the MYT on his wrist and wonder what his soulmate was like. Hopefully, his soulmate would be a boy. Handsome, kind, maybe would like to dance too.

“How did you meet an astronaut?” Yugyeom couldn’t help himself from asking. “Five ball, right front pocket.” The cue whizzed past the five and hit one of the stripped ones instead. “Damn.”

“We met briefly during a music competition but he went by DefSoul so I had no idea he was the **IJB** inked on my bicep.” Jackson circled the table, head tilted as he looked at the colored balls remaining. “Met again just before he went up on his new mission. Like, seconds before they loaded up into their tin can.” Yugyeom couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must have been like to meet his soulmate only to have them literally fuck off the face of the planet.

“That’s amazing.” Yugyeom sat on the edge of his chair. 

“He and his team are up for a year in the space station.” Jackson pouted at the ceiling as if the man they were talking about could see him. “We do skype calls twice a week through the digital pen pal program set up by the global space teams.” Yugyeom watched as neither Bambam or Jinyoung even pretended to care about the game anymore. They were too busy playing gay chicken with one another.

“I’m sure it's nice to hear from people at home while up there.” Yugyeom tried to imagine how lonely it must be floating out in the vast nothingness of space but likely failed. He could barely stay sane in the four walls of his bedroom in his apartment at night.

“Jb says it is.” Jackson tilted his head again, sizing him up the same way he had sized up the pool table. “There is an open slot left. My buddy has a bunch of fifth graders, his family, and a fifty year old astrophysicist as his only pen pals. I think he would appreciate having someone our age to talk to.”

“I’m not that exciting.” Yugyeom immediately turned pink, head dropping to hide behind his bangs. “At least the kids are fun and the astrophysicists can speak his language.”

“Oh trust me, he wants to strangle Doctor Frantz like you couldn’t imagine.” Yugyeom hid his smile with a sip from his beer. “I think you’d like Mark. He’s a really laid back guy and could use a friend that isn’t me or his siblings roasting him alive.”

Yugyeom found that Jackson was incredibly persuasive when he wanted to be. Which is how by the end of the night, Yugyeom had been sweet-talked by his new co-teacher into signing up for the digital pen pal. Once Jackson helped him fill out the application, the Chinese man made a phone call, talking as smooth as a used car salesman to someone that he clearly knew if the laughs were anything to go by. In less than an hour Yugyeom got an email saying that his pen pal request was accepted and he had a call scheduled for the next day with senior astronaut Mark Yi-en Tuan.

MYT.

God was laughing at him somewhere.

~*~*~*~

Yugyeom sat in front of his computer anxious as the timer ticked down from a minute. He kept calling himself stupid for dressing up. For putting makeup on and styling his hair. There was a billion - or seven - to one chance of Mark not being his soulmate. But even if Mark wasn’t, he was still an astronaut and Yugyeom didn’t want Mark to think he was a baby. So he dressed in one of his soft heather-grey sweaters that let him hide his hands in the long sleeves, a pair of black stretch pants he used for his yoga, and enough makeup that would show up on camera but would look natural.

_Welcome to the International Space Station digital pen pal. All calls are monitored and recorded for the safety of the members of the space team, and yourself. By accepting the terms and conditions you acknowledge you have no right to privacy and that calls can be terminated at any time._

_Do you accept?_   
_**< Yes >** _   
_**< No >** _

Taking a deep breath, Yugyeom clicked Yes.

Yugyeom watched the blank screen patiently. For a full minute, the screen stayed dedicatedly black, nothing loading from the other end. Yugyeom started to think that it was some kind of prank when the screen blipped on, the face of someone ridiculously close. The shot was particularly unsexy considering that Yugyeom could see right up his nose and the little bristles of stubble on an upper lip.

“Goddamn camera.” Mark’s voice was completely at odds with the little picture that had come with Yugyeom’s confirmation email. It didn’t make sense that something that deep came from someone who was 150 pounds if he was wet and holding his dog. “Ugh, this kid is going to think I’m an asshole if I can’t get this working.”

Yugyeom pressed a hand to his face to keep from laughing as a few more swear words dropped. When Mark drifted back in what Yugyeom was supposed to be a slump he couldn’t help the quiet chuckle that escaped.

“Oh fuck….wait. Crap. I MEANT CRAP DON’T KILL THE LINE YOUNGJAE.” Mark scrambled to pull himself closer and Yugyeom bursted out into a loud laugh. “How much of that did you see?”

“Only most of it.” Yugyeom stamped down the urge to blush. He had nothing to be embarrassed about, not when it had been Mark who had made an ass of himself. “I’m Kim Yugyeom, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Mark Yi-en Tuan, at your service.” Mark did a little bow that made him bob in place. “I was so relieved to see there was a pen pal request that wasn’t from Miss Kenya’s fifth grade class in Tallahassee.” Mark punched a few buttons and in the chat a group of kids smiled at the camera holding a _Thank You Mark!_ Sign covered in stars, planets, and shakily but carefully drawn hangul. “Cute huh?”

“Yeah.” Yugyeom studied the picture. “They wrote it in both English and Korean?”

“Yeah, I’m technically American but I’m on assignment with the Korean space team.” Mark tapped the patch on his shirt that had the Korean Flag and below it the American one. “I speak English, Korean, and some conversational Mandarin so I handle most of the English pen pals here.”

Silence lapsed between them, both unsure of where to steer the conversation. Mark was clearly used to having the camera full of tiny faces shoving one another out of the way and Yugyeom had never done anything like this. There was also the fact that Yugyeom was grappling with the face that Mark _could_ be his soulmate. Which, honestly, he could much worse. Mark’s long angled face was handsome, and his smile made butterflies erupt in his stomach.

“Do you have any questions?” Mark stretched his arms up, then threading them behind his head. For the first time, Yugyeom noticed Mark was being held in place by a tether.

“Sorry, I don’t have any.” The blush was back on Yugyeom’s cheeks but Mark was kind enough not to comment. “I guess...um….what do the kids ask?”

“Go on, ask me how we shit in space.” Mark’s smile doubled in size, eyes scrunching a bit. “Everyone asks.” Between laughs Yugyeom nodded yes. “Scouts honor, we tape a bag to our ass.” The visual sent Yugyeom into another fit of laughter. “I mean there _is_ a toilet, technically. But you have to be really good at timing.”

“That really kills the romance of space.” Yugeyom sighed wistfully, the smile still on his lips. 

“First rule of space travel is that you _never_ eat or drink anything that you find floating.” Mark winked even as Yugyeom valiantly tried to ignore that image. “We have learned from the fuck ups of our predacessors.”

“ _Gross_.” Yugyeom’s nose scrunched, tongue popping out in disgust. 

A warning flashed across the screen and a message popped in the chat area.  
 **Admin Youngjae: Language, Mark. First Strike.**

“Ahh man. Sorry Youngjae.” Mark looked away from the camera giving a finger heart. “Sorry to you too Yugyeom.” The American gave him a finger heart too. “It’s just been a while since I’ve talked to anyone that wasn’t eight.”

“Or an astrophysicist?”

“UGGGHHHHHH.” Mark dropped his head back and in the background someone else laughed. “He’s so pedantic. Everything, _everything_ , is an argument.” Yugyeom leaned on his elbows, with his own smile. “Wait, how do you know about him?”

“I just got a job at a dance studio and my co-teacher Jackson said you needed a friend.” Yugyeom held his phone to the camera to show the selfie the two of them had taken in front of the pool table. “I hope that’s okay.”

“Hey Youngjae, remind me to send Jackson a basket of fruit or something.” Mark motioned for someone to come over. “Jb, this is Yugyeom. He’s the new kid that Jinyoung and Jackson brought on.”

“The one that’s got Jinyoung fucking up in pool?” Jaebum floated on screen, having a hello. Yugyeom wondered if all astronauts were hot, because Jaebum was also gorgeous.

He was a simple gay and it wasn’t fair that God, Jackson, and the space program were dangling cute boys in front of him.

“No, that’s my best friend Bambam. I’m pretty sure Bam emotionally blackmailed them into hiring me.” Picking at the sleeves of his hoodie Yugyeom scrunched his nose. “I bombed the audition pretty bad.”

“Trust me,” Jaebum waited until he looked up and then crossed his heart. “Jinyoung would not have hired you if he didn’t think you were worth it. Even if he’s trying to impress a pretty boy.”

“How do you know Bam is pretty?”

Mark beat Jaebum to the punch, “Anyone who is friends with you is probably gorgeous too.”

**Admin Youngjae: Guys please. This is not a government funded dating app**   
**M. Tuan: If you hang up on this pretty boy I will never forgive you**   
**Im. J: Yeah, don’t roster-gate him**   
**Admin Youngjae: First off I hate how you and Jackson have found ways around banned words.**   
**Admin Youngjae: Secondly, you know he can see these right?**

Yugyeom was impressed that Mark was still conscious with how red his face turned. Next to Mark, Jaebum laughed loudly at him, and another disembodied laugh close by that Yugyeom assumed was Admin Youngjae.

“That’s rough buddy.” Jaebum patted Mark’s shoulder.

“You think I’m pretty?” Yugyeom couldn’t help but push the button a little.

**Admin Youngjae: Not another one. Listen, I respect the game but not on the Official Channels. And no passing out personal channels without the paperwork or we’ll never hear the end of it.**   
**Admin Youngjae: Second strike.**

“Well, now that I’ve made a total idiot of myself.” Mark shoved at Jaebum until the other floated away. “Sorry. Again.” Mark winked at the camera and untethering himself. “I’ll give you a tour of our side of the space station.”

Yugyeom watched fascinated as Mark described different parts of the space station. He was briefly introduced to the Offshore crew, including Youngjae who smiled at him as if he wasn’t also scolding them in the chat. Mark answered all his questions, even when Yugyeom got so excited he asked the same question twice. Even when he would have had the right to, Mark never seemed to get bored of him. It was clear why the American was a hit with the kids.

Despite the disaster that the beginning of the call had been, Yugyeom was a little smitten with the handsome astronaut. It also helped that clearly Mark thought he was cute. Cute enough he was probably going to get in trouble with his crew to keep their call going.

“Can I set up another meeting?” Yugyeom gave his best pout to the camera when Mark returned to the original tether station. Hopefully it would be enough to convince Youngjae into letting him call back. 

“Of course!” Mark brightened again, visibly perking up. Even if Yugyeom was blind he could have sensed that Mark had not expected him to want to talk again. “How many weeks?”

“How long are you in space?” Yugyeom pulled up his calendar to see what days he would be able to carve out at least an hour to talk to his unconfirmed soulmate.

“Ten more months.” Mark double checked the countdown on the wall. “Yeah, about forty-five weeks. Give or take.”

“Then another ten months, if you don’t mind.” If Mark was his soulmate, it would give them time to get to know each other before Yugyeom ever had to tell him where he lived. And if it didn’t work out, Mark would be hard pressed to stalk him from nearly 300 miles off the face of the planet.

**Admin Youngjae: I hate that this worked for you Mark.**  
 **Admin Youngjae: Mister Kim, there is going to be an email with several attachments that you will need to complete.**

“What time is it down there?” Mark questioned, ignoring the wall of clocks and the clock on their screen.

“Um. Nine? Have we really been talking an hour?” Yugyeom double checked the time and the little time counter on his screen. “Oh, we have.”

“Time is weird in space. We don’t have the same day markers that the Earth has.” Mark typed a few keys and on the screen under Miss Kenya’s class was a live feed from outside the space station. 

It really threw it in perspective how small they were when Yugyeom realized the little marble he was looking at was the Earth. Somewhere on a barely visible blob of green he sat smaller than a piece of sand on a beach.

“What do you miss the most?” Yugyeom tore his gaze away to look at Mark.

“Not needing a diaper to take a piss.” Mark grinned at the annoyed huff from Youngjae. “I miss seeing sunsets.” Mark punched a few more keys that made the camera pan until it caught the rays of the sun just barely visible over the curve of the Earth. “It’s just not the same up here.”

“I could take a picture for you.” Yugyeom immediately wanted to die. Mark missed _seeing_ a sunset, not another picture. “That’s stupid, you can get pictures if you wanted. Sorry.”

“I’d love it if you sent me a picture of the sunset.” Mark’s eyes were incredibly soft considering Yugyeom still felt like an idiot. “We can’t send video files, but pictures are good. Right Youngjae?”

**Admin Youngjae: Leave me out of this you heathens**

“Well Yugyeom,” Mark sighed heavily, eyes moving to the clocks on the wall. The astronaut looked dangerously close to pouting. “Sadly, I have to go and do my job. Remind me to tell you about it next time.”

“Be safe.” Yugyeom blurted out. The smile he got back before the screen returned to black was luminous.

It took half an hour for the ‘few’ attachments that Youngjae sent to be filled out and resubmitted for review. By the end of it, Yugyeom had all but signed over his first born to the space program to be allowed one hour long video call with Mark twice a week for the next ten months or the end of Mark’s assignment, whichever came first.. Providing he passed the background check. Not that he had much to worry about that, the worse thing on his record was a speeding ticket from when he was sixteen. Since Mark wouldn’t be driving a car in space, Yugyeom figured that he wouldn’t be deemed too bad of an influence.

And, he texted Jackson about the paperwork, so Yugyeom would bet Dalkyum that Jackson was making another phone call on his behalf.

~*~*~*~

**Part II - Mark**

As soon as the screen went blank Mark immediately launched himself across the room where Jaebum was talking with Jackson. Tucked in a corner typing code at a clip that Mark could only dream of, Youngjae glanced up to scrunch his nose. At some point, Mark would have to order Youngjae a basket of flowers for giving him as much wiggle room with the call as he had. They could all get in trouble for not being professional on the public channels, especially Youngjae since he was supposed to enforce the rules. 

Technically speaking, they still had to be careful what they said on the private channels as well. Technically. It was an unspoken agreement between ground control and the astronauts that private channels fell under the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell jurisdiction. More so on longer missions since no one wanted an astronaut with cabin fever. If a few dirty comments to a spouse kept someone from opening the airlock then they were more than happy to turn a blind eye.

“Hey Mar-”

“I thought we were friends,” Mark pushed Jaebum out of the way to get closer to the camera. Jaebum floated only a few inches away because of the tether but it was enough that Mark could get a proper glare in before Jb drifted back. “You sent me the prettiest boy in the goddamn _world_ with no warning. How dare you!”

On the other side of the screen Jackson rocked back in his chair laughing, headset nearly falling off. Mark had become friends with Jackson during their first few months of being in space. Jaebum, who had been his best friend since they met at school several years earlier, had taken pity on him after Mark kept getting requests from mostly small children or bitchy old men. Jaebum would pull him over when Jackson would call and the three of them would talk about music or current events. 

Sometimes. 

Other times, it was a call on the Personal Channel and Jaebum would disappear to his bed pod like all of them didn’t know what was going on.

“I figured you and Yugyeom would get along.” Jackson took a drink of his ‘healthy’ shake like it wasn’t an affront to god. Mark had once made the mistake of asking what was in and still suffered nightmares about pureed grapes, cabbage and chicken breast. “I’m glad I was right. He’s a good kid.”

“You’re evil.”

“I am. I would also like to talk to my soulmate please.” Jackson had the now familiar wedding planner checklist spread out in front of him. “Bye Markie, I’ll put Yugyeom down as your date for the wedding so don’t mess it up.”

Mark rolled his eyes, a smile still tugging at his lips all the same. Kicking off again, Mark floated over to the sleeping pod where his personal tablet was strapped to the charging station. A little envelope sat in the small corner of the screen, an email from HR probably. He had taken the conversation with Yugyeom about fifteen steps too far. But Mark couldn’t bring himself to care. Not when he might have met his soulmate over a digital pen pal through his work because god was funny like that. 

The little **KYG** sat on his wrist in bold black letters which could mean Kim YuGyeom. It could mean a hundred thousand other names too, but Mark was in space and was allowed to pretend that in some universe he was allowed to have the beautiful boy as his soulmate.

_Email notifications:_   
_[1] Request for private channel access by Kim Yugyeom._   
_[2] Approval for private channel access granted by Choi Youngjae, communications admin_   
_[3] Scheduled dates for digital pen pal calls to be added to M. Tuan’s personal calendar_   
_[4] Admin, Choi. YJ - the paperwork is still in process but I’ve gone ahead and set your calendar up. You’re welcome you goddamn heathen (but really, don’t fuck it up) <3 YJ._

“THANKS YOUNGJAE!” Mark clicked through the four emails for approvals.

“I HATE YOU.” Youngjae shouted back but there was no heat in the words.

Mark spent time looking at the profile that Yugyeom had provided. He would be getting another profile with more detail when Yugyeom submitted the next round of applications. The information was basic, and to be honest Mark should have read it _before_ the call he had been on. It might have saved the poor kid from some of Mark’s terrible improv humor.

Kim Yugyeom, 26.  
Occupation: Teacher at Park-Wang dance studio.   
Hobbies: Dancing, playing with puppy - Dalkyum, video games  
Likes: dancing, iced choco, moomin, hotpot, dandelions  
Special information: triple time contestant and winner of the 2018 Hit the Stage competition.

The small list nearly had Mark dying at how adorable Yugyeom was. Mark was also blown away that he was talking to someone who was casually famous. Hit the Stage was a notoriously challenging dance competition and not only had Yugyeom gotten in 3 times, he had also won. It was likely why Jinyoung and Jackson had ignored any mistakes in his audition. Clearly Yugyeom was talented enough to be teaching. Mark knew that performing or speaking in front of a large crowd was much less frightening than doing it in front of a smaller one.

When he ordered the fruit basket for Jackson he wondered if he could include some chocolate covered strawberries to be ‘shared’ with Yugyeom. It probably would scare Yugyeom off, they had talked for an hour and chocolate covered strawberries were definitely moving too fast. Still, Mark spent the rest of his free time imagining what it would be like if he could have had this as an actual date with the prettiest boy in the world.

~*~*~*~

When Mark signed up for a year long space assignment he had lamented it was not long enough. There was nothing exciting on the surface of the planet, at least not anything that he hadn’t done. Being the son of a scientist, he and his family had traveled to all seven continents and many of the countries within them. Mark had surfed in all the oceans, climbed a half dozen mountains, stayed the night in the serengeti and that was between going to college and burning through advanced courses. 

His dad had always impressed upon him how lucky they were to come from a family with money, and the importance of giving back to the communities that were not as blessed. So between the surfing, mountain climbing and other endeavors, Mark had also done hours and hours of volunteer work with soup kitchens and outreach programs. In the big scheme, it wasn’t much but Mark liked to think that every now and then he made a difference in someone’s life.

12 months had seemed like a blink of an eye at first. Now it felt like it would take an eternity to reach the end. Especially when on the screen Yugyeom sat, beautiful as the last time they talked. The shy smile made his heart flutter in his chest. If Kim Yugyeom wasn’t his soulmate then Mark was convinced the system was broken and should be ignored entirely.

“Hi Mark," Yugyeom fiddled with a plastic cup with _Mujabee Cafe_ written in block letters. “How are you today?”

“I’m doing good.” Mark tethered himself to his sleeping pod. “How was your day? Jackson not giving you too much grief is he?”

“Oh no! I’m learning so much from Sseunie.” Yugyeom’s smile brightened the entirety of space. “I’m very lucky he and Nyoungie have been taking time to teach me their dance styles.”

“Tell me about it.”

Mark listened for nearly forty-five minutes as Yugyeom talked about dancing. His personal style was street dancing, while Jackson’s style had more martial art tricking. Bambam, his best friend, was currently teaching pole dancing with another teacher named Solar and Jinyoung taught more of the formal styles. It was clear that dancing was his passion with how animated he talked about it. Yugyeom also talked about how their classes had started up and anxiety with being a first time teacher.

“Sometimes Sseunie has to remind me to slow down.” Yugyeom sat in his computer chair, one long leg propped up so Yugyeom could rest his chin on it. “I forget that not everyone picks things up as fast as I do.”

“You’ll get better.” Mark knew that feeling too well. “The first class I talked too nearly fell asleep because I didn’t think to use smaller words for small kids.” Mark left out that he also had been boo-ed out of the gymnasium by the kids. “Once you catch your stride it will be easier.”

“I guess.” The dancer sighed, eyes dropping to where his phone vibrated on the computer desk. “Oh! I forgot.” Yugyeom picked up his phone, thumbs tapping away at the cracked screen. “There. Check your email.”

Mark was so, so tempted to make an inappropriate joke but bit his tongue. In the email was, sadly, not a tasteful nude. The picture was taken at a beach at sunset. A hand that Mark assumed was Yugyeom’s held up a dandelion head that blocked the direct sun.

“I hope it isn’t too lame.”

“Can I make this the background for my tablet?” Mark tried to sear the colors of the sunset in his memory.

“Really? You like it that much?” The blush that would have Mark launching himself _into _orbit to get closer to, splashed across Yugyeom’s cheeks. “I mean. Yeah, you can. I’m glad you like it.”__

__“Thank you Yugyeom.” Mark tapped against the screen though the options to put it as his lock screen. “How is Dalkyum doing?”_ _

__“You ask a lot of questions about me.” Yugyeom arched an eyebrow, shoulders going tense. Jackson had told him that under the face of the baby there was six foot of brat. Jackson had also told him not to be invasive because Yugyeom had enough people take too much interest in him, enough to have the maknae writing off relationships entirely. “Tell me about you.”_ _

__“Well let’s see.” Mark tried to think of a way to talk about his life that didn’t make him sound like a rich asshole. Technically they weren’t rich-rich, but Mark was well aware that he was firmly in the Upper Class. “My dad is a scientist and my mom used to teach kindergarten. I have two older sisters and a younger brother. One of my sisters is getting married about two months after my assignment is over. She and her wife-to-be want to wait until I am home to tie the knot.”_ _

__“That’s really sweet of them.” Yugyeom all but melted in his chair, the haughty look dropping to something softer._ _

__“We’re a pretty close family. Even when I was an insufferable ass in my teenage years.” A slight lie, in only that he could still be an insufferable ass - though in his defense, it was part of the human condition. Mark had a habit of picking fights and his siblings often were the ones knocking sense into him. “I have a dog named Milo. Gimme a sec and I’ll show you a picture of him. My roommates Wonpil and Jae are taking care of him while I’m up here.” Going into his gallery, Mark sent a picture of his baby to the chat._ _

__“He’s so cute.” Yugyeom sat closer to the screen, eyes going soft at the fluffy puppy._ _

__“Youngjae actually has Milo’s sibling.” Mark pulled up their puppy pictures. “Coco is bigger now, but we still have play dates when we’re planet side.”_ _

__“How often do you go up?” Yugyeom’s eyes left the puppy’s to connect with his over the screen. “A lot?”_ _

__“No, this is only my third time up.” Mark could give him a whole dissertation on how dangerous space travel was and the effects on the body but he didn’t think it was second date material. “First two times were only six months each. Staying too long in space changes how the body works so we’re pushing limits staying up here for a year._ _

__Yugyeom chewed on the inside of his cheek clearly processing the information. Like most, Yugyeom must have assumed they all went up dozens and dozens of times for months on end. In reality, most people who went into the space program never got off the planet surface. It was more likely for an archeologist to find a lost city than it was for someone to go into space. The costs alone were insane, never mind that few people were suited to go up into space._ _

__“Hmmm. What else…” Mark tapped his chin trying to think of something that would re-engage the man in conversation. “I accidentally modeled once.”_ _

__“How did you accidentally model?” Yugyeom’s brat eyebrow returned._ _

__“So I was in Paris with my mom.” The story was embarrassing but he knew it would make Yugyeom laugh and that was worth it. “It was her birthday and we had been ‘tasting’ a lot of wine.”_ _

__“Oh no.”_ _

__“You see where this is heading,” a ringed hand hid Yugyeom’s growing smile but Mark could see it in his eyes. “So we’re pretty toasty and stumbled into what we thought was a store and I started to try on clothes.” Mark paused letting Yugyeom imagine the shitshow that he caused. “Turned out it was in fact not a store, and instead of fighting the clothes that I had tried on the staff put some makeup on me and had me strut out.” Yugyeom was laughing brightly on the screen. “Thankfully we had crashed the test run so no one was there to see me walking like a baby giraffe in heels. My mom has the picture framed in the living room.”_ _

__“That’s almost as good as the time Bam crashed a photoshoot.”_ _

__**ProxyAdmin: 5 minutes until session is over** _ _

__“I think I liked Youngjae being our admin better.” Yugyeom picked up his drink, pink tongue peeking out exclusively to make Mark’s jumpsuit pants tighter. “Do you want any more pictures? Sunrise, sunset? Anything?”_ _

__“Surprise me.” Mark took the barest bit of joy at Yugyeom’s blush. “Thanks for calling Yugyeom. Talk to you in a few days.”_ _

__

__~*~*~*~_ _

__**Part III - Yugyeom** _ _

__Yugyeom hadn’t expected to like Mark anywhere near as much as he did. Each week they talked he couldn’t help but want to jump forward in time. They had already planned to meet at _Mujabee_ before Mark would fly out to America for his sister’s wedding. Yugyeom had not asked about Mark’s soulmate tattoo, nor had Mark asked about his. Yugyeom would have thought that Mark didn’t have one until during a call six months later when Yugyeom caught sight of it as Mark played guitar for him._ _

__It was clearly unplanned. Mark usually wore long shirts with the thumb holes that kept the letters covered, just as Yugyeom always wore a sweater to keep his own covered. But late at night Yugyeom thought about it while he looked at the night sky outside his window. Somewhere high, high up his soulmate was floating around doing science things that made Yugyeom’s head spin._ _

__Mark had told him about the risks of being in space, albeit a very vague description of them. The psychological effects of being cooped up with the same fifteen people with limited activity was laughable compared to the physical effect. Loss of bone density, potential blindness, radiation from being out in the open without an atmosphere to dilute the waves. But it was clear just as Yugyeom loved to dance, Mark loved to be out in space. If they were soulmates, Yugyeom would have to get used to loving Mark from afar - as if he wasn’t already in love._ _

__Yugyeom would feel absolutely ridiculous about the whole situation if he and Jackson didn’t spend time between classes talking about the big Im-Wang wedding coming up. They had known each other only a few weeks more than Yugyeom and known Mark, yet Jackson was already planning the wedding. Granted, the wedding was being set for two years into the future since they wanted a chance to live together before signing any paperwork. But Jaebum had already been in space twice before and the toll it was taking on his already injured back was becoming too much. Jaebum had talked with the teams, and this was his final trip off the surface of their little blue marble unless something big came up._ _

__While laying on his bed mindlessly scrolling through Twitter, he received a notification. A request to chat only from Mark’s personal channel._ _

__Mark: miss you  
Yugyeom: we talked an hour ago  
Yugyeom: but i miss you too  
Mark: would you never speak to me again if I marked you down as my date to my sister’s wedding?  
Yugyeom: you what?  
Yugyeom: you want me to be your date?  
Mark: if you want to. you’ll need your passport and whatnot. but i’d really like you to come  
Yugyeom: remember i have lemon yellow hair rn  
Mark: you have dandelion hair  
Yugyeom: how dare you, i didn’t even think of that  
Mark: you could have the whole rainbow in your hair and it would fit right in  
Yugyeom: what if i’m not as pretty as i look on camera  
Mark: impossible  
Yugyeom: but what if?  
Mark: wouldn’t change anything. I like kim yugyeom, dancer, dog parent, and 2nd best friend to my best friend’s soulmate  
Yugyeom: do you like me enough to live in seoul between missions?  
Mark: you got an apartment big enough for us?  
Yugyeom: it’s barely big enough for me and dalkyum  
Mark: guess i’ll have to get us a new apartment  
Yugyeom: i was being serious  
Mark: so am i_ _

__Yugyeom’s heart sped up, eyes rereading the texts in disbelief. Mark wanted to move in with him. Mark wanted him to go to his _sister’s wedding_. _ _

__Yugyeom: is it because jackson showed you my soulmate tattoo?  
Mark: do you want me in seoul because you saw mine?  
Yugyeom: fair  
Mark: it’s still a few months before we come back. think about it okay?  
Mark: we don’t have to move in, i’d like to but i’m not going to force myself on you  
Yugyeom: what if you don't like me?  
Mark: impossible  
Yugyeom: you keep saying that  
Mark: the truth doesn't change  
Mark: my melatonin is kicking in and i don’t want to fall asleep on you so i gotta sleep. i can't wait to talk to you in a few days gyeomie, i miss you already._ _

__Mark’s little chat bubble went dark leaving Yugyeom to spend the rest of the night thinking about living with Mark. And as the clock hit midnight Yugyeom thought about the other implications of living with Mark._ _

__If he took time to yank it imagining what Mark would be like in bed, that was his business. If he also took time to think about Mark yanking it in space, that was also his business._ _

__~*~*~*~_ _

__Yugyeom spent the next two weeks really thinking about if he wanted to move in with Mark. The sane answer would be absolutely not. For as much as they conversed they were still relative unknown entities to each other. What if he had that annoying American habit of being...well American. What if he found the fact that Yugyeom subsisted on iced chocos and will power annoying?_ _

__On the other hand, Yugyeom was absolutely smitten with his astronaut. Mark was everything he wanted in a soulmate. Sometimes it felt like someone had reached into his brain and cobbled Mark together from all his best dreams and pressed them into skin. But that could also be that he was 300 miles away._ _

__Yugyeom had talked himself in and out of it a few dozen times when the universe, quite literally, took the decision out of his hands._ _

__Yugyeom had woken up, taken Dalkyum for a walk and then went to work. He knew that something was wrong when he had walked in the front door to find Jinyoung bodily wrapped around Jackson and Bambam pacing in front of the TV where a screenshot of the space station was displayed. Under the picture was a note that the crew would be returning several months early as several members required hospitalization._ _

__“Don’t freak out.” Bambam had finally noticed him._ _

__“Then why is Jackson crying?” Yugyeom’s whole body felt cold._ _

__“We don’t have an official report.” Bambam came to hold his hand. Yugyeom could feel the _but_ lingering in the air. “Jackson got a message from Jaebum early this morning. A few members of the team are showing signs of being sick.” Yugyeom’s heart tried to punch out of his chest. “As far as we know, Mark, Jb, and Youngjae are fine but they don’t want to risk anything so the whole crew is coming home and another team is going to go up and finish the work.”_ _

__Squatting down, Yugyeom held his head in his hands trying to breathe past the panic building in his chest. He had _just_ found Mark, he couldn’t lose him. Not before they had time to actually be together. _ _

__

__Yugyeom, along with the rest of the world watched the news as the cameras were trained on the sky. Sitting next to him was Jackson, both of them clutching each other’s hands as the metal box containing their soulmates fell to earth. It had been two days since the announcement that the space team would be returning, neither of which did a single message from Jaebum or Mark come through. Yugyeom figured it was due to the crew’s need to pack and catch the next crew up on the progress. Still, it made Yugyeom’s stomach twist up into knots._ _

__On the screen the metal pod entered the atmosphere, a bright red shooting star carrying their hopes and hearts._ _

__The landing was, blessedly, uneventful. The pod’s shields worked as they should, the parachutes launched right on time, and the ball of hot metal settled somewhere in the ocean to be picked up by the space program. The world cheered on and Yugyeom let Jackson pull him onto his lap so they could share a relieved but shaky breath._ _

__The worst part, or the part that Yugyeom hoped was the worst, was over. They had presumably made it back on one piece. A feat considering the pod had re-entered the atmosphere at nearly 18,000 miles an hour before the shields and parachutes forced it to decelerate to a survivable speed - if the statistics on the screen were to be believed. On the TV, the camera showed the crew waving from the chunk of floating metal and if Yugyeom cried from sheer relief at least Jackson and Jinyoung were crying with him._ _

__~*~*~*~_ _

__Standing in front of the hospital Yuygeom clutched the bouquet of dandelions to his chest, likely crushing the fragile stems. It had been two weeks since the space crew had been recovered from the ocean and aside from a single text telling him he was okay, Yugyeom hadn’t heard from Mark. Unable to stop himself, Yugyeom had made the incredible stupid mistake of looking up the effects that space had on the human body after they returned to the surface of the planet. It explained why Mark and team had to be in the hospital to be monitored while their bodies readjusted. Fluid movement, brain swelling, and a bunch of other stuff that had nearly sent him right over the edge just from reading it. Yugyeom regretted not just sticking with the safe bits that Mark had told him on in their calls._ _

__“Hey!” Jackson appeared at his elbow and Yugyeom just about launched himself into the space station. “Sorry, I tried to call you but you didn’t hear me.”_ _

__“It’s o-okay.” Yugyeom managed to stammer out with a laugh._ _

__Following Jackson, Yugyeom let him do the talking with the reception desk. It was clear that even with having to sign in, both of them were not only on the list but expected. Yugyeom couldn’t help but to think the nurse looked relieved, especially when she said that the crew had been antsy to get visitors. The leeway they had been granted in space had been revoked now that they were back on the planet. Just because it wasn’t the humans they wanted to interact with didn’t mean the crew wasn’t getting human interaction._ _

__“They’re up on the fifth floor. First hallway on the left, and the only occupied room of the set.” The receptionist handed them visitor stickers. “There are two others visiting as well. But I’ve been assured by the patients that two more won’t be an issue since you are all friends.”_ _

__“Thank you ma’am.” Jackson bowed, Yugyeom following suit a few moments later. “Let’s go see our boys.”_ _

__On the elevator up Yugyeom bounced on his heels a bit out of nervous habit. Usually when he was stressed Yugyeom would jog or dance - neither of which he could do in an elevator. He almost wished he had taken the stairs just so he could burn off the excess jitters making his bones itch. Being in an elevator he was forced to face his own thoughts. Would Mark be happy to see him? What if he wasn’t? What if he hated dandelions? Wha-_ _

___Ding!_ _ _

__“ **Fifth Floor. Recovery and Rehabilitation.** ” The disembodied voice announced as the elevator came to a stop, bounced once, and the doors opened._ _

__“Almost there Gyeomie.” Jackson linked their arms together. Jackson had listened to enough of Yugyeom’s existential crisis to know exactly the maelstrom of doubt taking up his brain.“He’s excited to see you.”_ _

__“How do you know?” Jackson gave him a grin that told Yugyeom all he needed to know. “That’s not fair. I’ve been kept in the dark.”_ _

__“That’s because Mark sucks at being sneaky.” Jackson took them around the corner. As promised, only one door had the Occupied light on over it. “Looks like they really did beat us here.”_ _

__In front of the door Jinyoung and Bambam stood with flowers in their own hands. Jinyoung looked relaxed as could be, while Bambam looked as anxious as him. It struck Yugyeom that just because Bambam had rejected his soulmate and took an interest in Jinyoung didn’t mean that Jinyoung didn’t have a soulmate. Which made worlds more sense why Bambam had been dodging Yugyeom’s questions and making frequent calls to Lisa._ _

__“I have it on good authority Youngjae is thrilled to have another boyfriend.” Jackson rocked up on his toes to press a kiss to Yugyeom’s cheek. “Now, stop stalling. Mark has been making them _miserable_ all day.”_ _

__The hospital room was not set up like Yugyeom expected. He imagined wires and tubes and maybe a ventilator or something. Truthfully, he was expecting them to be dying. Instead there were only a few machines to check vitals at times written out in dry erase marker and what previous levels were._ _

__In one corner, Jaebum had been buried in paperwork until they had come through the door. Yugyeom got to watch as Jackson threw the flowers on top of the paperwork and embraced Jaebum for the first time. Just like a movie they touched each other reverently, clearly forgetting anything else in the universe existed but one another. When they started to kiss Yugyeom turned away to give them some semblance of privacy for such an intimate moment as a first kiss. First kiss with a _soulmate_. Something he never had stock in until that very moment, and if anyone were to prove him wrong, Yugyeom was delighted it was Jackson._ _

__In another corner of the room Youngjae was dedicatedly trying to coax Bambam onto the bed with him while Jinyoung tried to argue about space and weight on the bed. Yugyeom had only seen Youngjae a few times, most of them in pictures with his fluffy dog. It was a relief to see that Youngjae was in fact excited to meet Bambam, even more so when his pout won out and Bambam climbed into the bed with him. Jinyoung huffed, rolled his eyes, but he was smiling so wide that none of it mattered._ _

__That of course, left Mark on the other side of the room and Yugyeom no longer had anything to distract him from facing the music. Tucked in in the corner opposite from Jb, Yugyeom’s soulmate smiled at him patiently, waving a hello with his fingers when Yugyeom finally looked over. Mark had taken Yugyeom’s distraction to move aside the stacks of papers he had been working on. The astronaut sat with his legs crossed on the bed in baggy sweatpants and a shirt that looked like it belonged to someone six or seven times his size. It almost wasn’t fair that Mark was prettier in person than he was on camera._ _

__“I uh…” Yugyeom drifted over, dandelions held out. “I got you flowers.” Inside his head he repeated _please don’t hate them, please don’t hate them, please don’t hate them_ like a mantra._ _

__“Thank you.” Mark touched the heads gently, the lights reflecting a bit of yellow onto Mark’s skin. Plucking one out, Mark reached up to tuck it behind his ear, fingers ghosting down his jaw as his arm retracted. “I’m sorry I couldn’t call. I missed you.”_ _

__“I missed you too.” The rushing in his blood from the littlest contact had him dizzy. If there was any doubt that they weren’t soulmates, it disappeared in the flight of a thousand butterflies in his stomach. “Do you feel that?”_ _

__“I do.” Yugyeom melted down onto the bed in awe. “But even if I didn’t, I would still choose you.” Mark’s thumb brushed away a tear that Yugyeom hadn’t realized was falling. “I will always choose you.”_ _

__Without really thinking about it, Yugyeom leaned forward to press their lips together in a soft kiss. It was everything that he had been dreaming about since the first video call with his spaceman. From the slight stubble scraping against his skin, to the warm palm cupping his jaw, Yugyeom felt his bones melting. Parting his lips Yugeyom sighed, body aching to be closer. Two magnets being drawn together now that there wasn’t a horizon separating them._ _

__“I love you.” The whisper against his lips made his heart skip. Mark loved him, his soulmate loved him - which was hilarious since Yugyeom had sworn off this whole scenario years ago. “Do you still want me?”_ _

__“Yes, stupid.” Yugyeom pulled him for another kiss. “How could I not want my soulmate?”_ _

__~*~*~*~*~_ _

__**Part IV - Mark** _ _

__Mark stood as best man, sibling, person, at his sister’s wedding. The whole place was gorgeously decorated, and his sister looked happier than he had ever seen in his life. Around the room were bunches of dark red roses accented with drooping wisteria and tall lavender colored gladiolus. The crowd of people in attendance were dotted with those crying which made him feel less lame for being an easy crier. At least they were all fucking up their makeup together._ _

__Next to his mom in a suit that made his own too tight, Yugyeom sat bright yellow hair now dark black. His soulmate dressed to the nines, a dandelion tucked behind his ear where Mark had placed it just before the ceremony. Yugyeom who didn’t know a word of English and relied heavily on Mark and his parents to communicate sat smiling, every bit as enraptured as if he understood what was going on. Mark was so distracted that he nearly missed the I Dos and the big kiss._ _

__Doing his best man duty, Mark let his family drag them for the billion and half pictures - all of which he was convinced he looked terrible in, but trusted the magic of photoshop. He managed to give a speech that he had been smart enough to write down instead of improv - he’d save _that_ for when he was Jb’s best man. By the time the lights dimmed for dances, he couldn’t get to his date fast enough._ _

__“Hey.” Mark slipped an arm around Yugyeom’s waist. Instantly, Yugyeom melted against him. Mark had a sneaking suspicion that _Fly me to the Moon_ currently spilling from the speakers was courtesy of one or both of his parents. “Dance with me.”_ _

__“I’m sorry your parents had to keep close to me.” Yugyeom tucked his face down into Mark’s neck as they swayed back and forth to Frank Sinatra._ _

__“Don’t be, they love it.” As if to prove his point, said parents were across the room taking pictures of them. “Still want to go to Disneyland?”_ _

__“Can we?” Yugyeom perked up and Mark’s heart became jello. “Really? You don’t mind having to translate everything?”_ _

__“Not for you.” Mark tried not to think about the little black box that sat in the hotel room lockbox with their passports and wallets. “Let’s go tomorrow while everyone is still hungover.”_ _

__The kiss received was answer enough._ _

__Mark spent the rest of the night pulling Yugyeom into every slow dance that came on that his mom didn’t beat him to. As he expected, his family was just as enamored with Yugyeom as he was. All of them kept trying to snipe him away, and succeeding most of the time while Mark pouted heavily. In between all that, he fed pieces of cake to Yugyeom and joined him on the dance floor during dances. It was a perfect night and Mark savored it._ _

__~*~*~*~_ _

__The next morning, Mark made a valiant attempt to sneak off to Disneyland while the rest of the family was asleep. However, that was blown out of the water when they exited their room to find the family - sans his sister and her new wife - dressed in matching khakis, red floral shirts, socks with sandals and mickey ears. They even had fanny packs._ _

__“You planned this didn’t.” Mark sighed as Yugyeom grinned, accepting the bag with their matching outfits. “Traitor.”_ _

__Dressed as the world’s gaudiest tourists, the Tuans plus Kim, loaded up into cars to go to Disneyland._ _

__As they entered the park Yugyeom was whisked away by Mark's siblings and nieces, getting introduced to each of the characters standing about the park. Clearly unneeded, and frankly unable to keep up with their excited pace, Mark stayed back with his parents watching his soulmate have the absolute time of his life. Sitting around at a table while the rest of their gang flitted in and out of shops, they discussed his future plans now that he wasn't going back into space._ _

__“Have you and Yugyeom picked out a place?” His dad asked while sipping on his overpriced coffee. All of them were still tired from the night before, it had been late by the time they had taken down all the decorations and finally crawled into bed. “You’re still moving in together right?”_ _

__“Yeah.” Mark waved where Yugyeom pointed to an ice cream stand they were going to. “Jackson and Jb found a place by the space program center and are giving us a referral.”_ _

__It still felt surreal to think that he would never again be launching out into space. All the schooling and class and time had accumulated into only 3 missions into space. Even if his body could handle another trip, he wouldn’t leave the planet unless Yugyeom was with him. 3 feet was too far to be away from his soulmate, 300+ miles was simply out of the question._ _

__“The program still going to keep you on?” His mom asked, chin angled up to watch the girls drag Yugyeom into a new shop under her sunglasses._ _

__“Yeah. They’ll need me and Jb to translate the data coming in from the Beta team as well as build the next set of tests to be done.” Pulling out his phone, Mark checked the time, 7PM. Nearly time. “Youngjae is the most secure of us, he’s in communications. But the program is also monitoring us for long term effects.”_ _

__“Like Jb’s back?” Mark grimaced but nodded. The bone density loss from being in space meant he’d be a candidate for back surgery in a few years. Not that Mark was in any better boat, his knee was already clicking. “Was it worth it?”_ _

__“I think so.” Mark thought of all the time he spent watching the stars flickering in the darkness._ _

__He thought of how the sun would peek along the curve of the Earth, the view of the moon, and the storms he watched move across the atmosphere. All the beauty that was in out in that vast nothingness beyond their clouds. And yet, all of them were bland compared to the smile of the pretty boy walking toward him._ _

__Clutching the little box in his pocket, Mark bided his time until the first crack of fireworks started to go off. The dark blue sky crackled with glittering with a riot of colors that Mark was utterly disinterested in looking at._ _

__Pulling Yugyeom into a soft kiss he asked, “having fun?”_ _

__“Hm? Yea- _woah!_ Did you see how big that was Mark?” Kissing him again, Mark whispered he loved him. “I love you too.”_ _

__“Gyeomie?” Mark waited until Yugyeom looked at him, eyebrows raised in question. Pressing the small box in his hand Mark whispered, “I don't want to make a scene but...wanna get married?”_ _

__Around them people were cheering at the firework show, but the two of them were a little bubble of silence amidst the noise. Words catching up, Yugyeom looked at him with eyes wide, and then down at the box. The fireworks bathed them in waves of blue, and green, and pink, and gold. Mark had seen the world from God’s view, but was sure that he'd never seen anything so pretty as the light awe and confusion on Yugyeom's face._ _

__Mark found that he was nervous, more nervous than any time he crawled into a tin can and potato-cannoned into the vast universe, but still not as much as he thought he would be. Yugyeom hadn’t answered, but his soulmate still looked too stricken to have processed it. Mark was a patient man though. He had spent nearly thirty years waiting to get to this point. He had waited months to meet Yugyeom in person, weeks more to hear Yugyeom say that he loved him back, and now hours to ask this one question. His calm was rewarded whenYugyeom’s shaking hands finally opened the box._ _

__When Yugyeom saw the ring inside he inhaled in a shaky breath and covered his mouth, tears lining his lashes. Mark simply watched him, the fear receding with each moment that Yugyeom didn’t shove him away. After a few more heart beats, he wasn’t afraid Yugyeom was going to tell him no. Carefully, Mark lifted the ring out of the black satin and slid it onto Yugyeom's finger with the engraved dandelion facing up._ _

__“Yes.” Yugyeom choked out a little sob as both arms raised to wrap around his neck. “Yes, yes, I love you, yes, of course I do, yes if it's you I want to get married.”_ _

__

__Mark waited until they're back at the hotel with the family to do a proper bended knee proposal. Surrounded by Mark’s family, Yugyeom said yes again. Both of them were crying all over again but Mark felt no guilt for those tears. He had been afraid that Yugyeom would have changed his mind between the ride home and Mark sinking to his knee in the dining room. But his soulmate had kissed him hard and pulled him into bone crushing hugs between Mark’s family riotously celebrating their engagement._ _

__Later that night and after they'd showered off the day, Mark held his fiancee marveling how they had gotten there. Two people who had written off soulmates, who had wildly different directions for their lives that didn’t include another person. And yet, a one in a million chance had braided their threads of fate together as if that had been the plan all along. He spent time thinking about all hours of phone calls, and texts and the ache between the brief windows they were able to speak on screen to one another. The romantic in Mark’s heart said that it was love at first sight, and the scientist in his head said that it was when he and Yugyeom had an argument over what the best hotpot place in Seoul was. Mark, naturally, sided with the romantic._ _

__Mark did his best to soak in the feel of their skin pressed together, how the long eyelashes fluttered against his cheek, at how even standing Yugyeom couldn’t help but sway back and forth like there was an ever present melody in his head. They don’t say anything for a long time, but it doesn’t bother Mark. They have a whole lifetime to talk. They have years ahead of them to fill the silence so Mark lets them sit in this one. Let them sway in the soft moonlight coming in through the big window._ _

__

__~*~*~ End ~*~*~_ _

**Author's Note:**

> Say hi to us on Tumblr!  
> https://bang-channies.tumblr.com/
> 
> hey kids we got a twitter:  
> S - https://twitter.com/hardstansonly  
> K - https://twitter.com/BChannies


End file.
